Newcastle Utd 2-0 Liverpool: In game and Post Match debate

F***ing crap.

Benteke was woeful, should never have started. He changes the way we play and it's for the worse. Save the 32 million pounder for the 70th.

For such a "prolific" striker, he has been missing some sitters every now and then. His movement off the ball has been very poor.

Still shell shocked from our performance (or non-performance) yesterday. Attack and midfield just didn't perform as we expected. No energy or pressing and little movement or effort by Benteke.

I honestly didn't expect we would miss Can or Lallana yet we missed both, but most of my ire and anger has been directed at Benteke, which might be me looking for a scapegoat but imo he deserves it .

Just never expected such an insipid performance after the way we have been playing, but it is quite worrying that when teams sit back and hit us on the break we don't seem to have any answers.

Looks like there are no shortcuts back to the top and we will have to fight much harder than this if we are to challenge.

F***ing crushed at the moment. 

   

For such a "prolific" striker, he has been missing some sitters every now and then. His movement off the ball has been very poor.

He has no real influence in the build-up play, and as you say his movement is/was poor.

I thought Firminho was invisible too but it honestly didn't help him having a static lump in and around him too.

Jürgen got it wrong there is no two ways about it, he is human after all.

Abysmal performance from the "captain" how a player of so many international and domestic matches in his legs can not do some of the basics is annoying, frustrating and embarrassing at times. Lucas was just as poor and I will probably be a minority in saying this Allen was probably the best of those 3 but still a long way off.

Interesting to see how people have given little criticism to the performance of Benteke and Firmino. Benteke made Balotelli look like a workhorse tonight and had Mario put that display on people would have been up in arms. Firmino for me was the worst of the lot  let's put the lack of pressing and running aside for a moment, as a "number 10" behind the striker you can not play one touch football and spray around 5 yard passes there was no creativity from him at all, did not bother taking on a man with the ball and in general looked like he could not be arsed.

Piss poor all around we deserved nothing from the game only positive is that Jürgen called it the way it was...sh*t!

Spot on mate especially the Benteke and Balotelli comparison.

Calmed down a bit now,starting at the back,i thought we were ok,Skrtel was unlucky with the OG,midfield was never gonna work,Allen,Lucas,and Milner,no real zip in any of them,but Allen was the best of the 3,up front Benteke was absolute garbage,it is actually not that easy to hit a football over the bar from 2 yards out,but somehow he managed to do it,if that had of gone in,it would have been a different game,should have started with Sturridge,and taken him off once we had got a couple of goals,we are still not out of it,and this is just a bump in  the road,Jürgen is the man to put it right,and he will have learned a lot from yesterday.

Still shell shocked from our performance (or non-performance) yesterday. Attack and midfield just didn't perform as we expected. No energy or pressing and little movement or effort by Benteke.

I honestly didn't expect we would miss Can or Lallana yet we missed both, but most of my ire and anger has been directed at Benteke, which might be me looking for a scapegoat but imo he deserves it .

Just never expected such an insipid performance after the way we have been playing, but it is quite worrying that when teams sit back and hit us on the break we don't seem to have any answers.

Looks like there are no shortcuts back to the top and we will have to fight much harder than this if we are to challenge.

F***ing crushed at the moment. 

   

Sad to read that mate, I don't feel crushed because I know that it was much more a personnel issue than it was to do with tactics. Swap back in the main lads and we'll be fine but honestly I think this could be the beginning of the end for Benteke because every performance he has started with Klopp has been our least impressive. It's nowhere near coincidence, the big fella simply doesn't fit our style at all, Firmino looks lost without his mates Lallana and Coutinho.

I'm not blaming Benteke for Firmino's performance who was terrible on the day but when you have nothing moving in front of you and no midfielders make runs beyond (as Lallana and Coutinho have been doing) then the burden of creativity is on the only player in our side who could take people on. That's why it looked as though Ibe was our only creative spark, in truth he also had a pretty awful game that was masked by him also looking our best attacking threat, but it was this breakdown in understanding from Benteke, Milner and Allen that really did emphasise how poor these players are in my opinion.

If someone sits deep with no intention of becoming a genuine attacking force in the game then you have to create opportunities to pass to, you have to occupy defenders in spaces they don't want or shouldn't go. None of that was evident in any of these players so unfortunately we looked like we had only one tactic. The difference when Sturridge came on was marked but he needed someone around him like Coutinho or Lallana to interplay with and our midfield were to a man very lucky to stay on the pitch.

What it will have done is highlight to anyone who thought we could quite simply transform all our players into top quality that some are simply beyond saving and we'll have to endure a few more of their senseless performances before the boss gets a chance to bring in players who do understand how to play in his systems.

Milner has escaped plenty of criticism because of just how bad Benteke and Firmino were but honestly if anyone watches that again pay special attention to the lad, he was up there with them as an absolutely diabolical performance, I really hope Jürgen gets a midfielder in Jan and Hendo comes back fit and strong because we need so much more from a position of such importance.

This league is built around pace and power so if you can't match it you need a high level of technical ability to win the midfield.

When you look at Allen being monstered in the middle of the pitch and Milner constantly getting the ball stuck in his feet, It's no wonder we lost the midfield battle.
Not sure what was up with Lucas as he was so far off the pace.

The pressing was not there as it was in previous matches. I think it was always going to be difficult to sustain that every match, especially considering its been 12 matches in 60 days, one every 5 days. It will take a while to get that level of fitness into the players, and its always likely to slip when you are playing the bottom club. Mentally players slip off the pace thinking they have enough to get the job done against a poor team without maximum effort.
A lesson learned today 
At least we have seen what the players are capable of under Klopp and I would anticipate a big response after this effort.

Poor performance all round. Perhaps the guys became too complacent? At least we can go again and put another winning run together hopefully.
Huge opportunity missed though, which is the most frustrating part.

This league is built around pace and power so if you can't match it you need a high level of technical ability to win the midfield.

When you look at Allen being monstered in the middle of the pitch and Milner constantly getting the ball stuck in his feet, It's no wonder we lost the midfield battle.
Not sure what was up with Lucas as he was so far off the pace.

Lucas looked off it from the first minute, he still put a shift in and was decent in defensive situations but his passing was really poor by his standards, not sure but he's enough credit in the bank this season to be forgiven.

Allen was literally like a rag doll on occasion, it's why I didn't comment too much on his performance against Southampton because there's too many little moments that always seem to be false dawns with Joe. That pass to Sturridge was truly world class and he was far from the worst player out there yesterday but at the end of the day he's simply not good enough.

When we have a limited mobility in Lucas, Milner stucked in the middle is as good as useless unless we park him near the wing or corner flag while Allen is no Cou or Can that can provide those defence splitting passes or muscle pass defenders, then the problematic area is pretty clear, it is in midfield that Klopp would have to reinforce. Been saying it all along, a robust DM and a workhorse AM is what that is needed. The system simply broke down in the middle of the pitch, while Ben kept missing those sitters doesn't help at all while I suspect complacency could have played a part in the outcome of the result. Hope Klopp doesn't use Milner, Lucas and Allen in the same line-up again.  Move on to the next match.

Glad quite a few people are starting to notice the problems we have when Benteke is in the team. Yesterday wasn't a one off, we have performed like that in literally every game Benteke has started.

A couple of games ago I suggested that we compare how many goals we score as a team with and without Benteke in the side and that I'm certain we would score far more without him. Bentekes personal record will still be 1 goal every 2 games but I bet the teams scoring record will drop immensely whenever he plays.

I thought at the time it was a terrible signing. I could see a mile off that the other players in our squad weren't compatible to him. We try and play through teams and Benteke isn't suited to that type of football at all. You need to get the ball in to him. He needs wingers basically and we have none.

I'm not blaming yesterdays performance and result solely on Benteke that would be incredibly unfair but with the type of players we have in our squad we need to play a forward who will stretch the back line and create space for others. If Sturridge isn't fit to start then we have to play Firmino up top.

The harsh reality is we have spent 32.5m on a player who is best suited to being an impact sub.

Terrible result, absolutely gutted, but can't help feel there is some overreaction. Missing players like Couts, Studge from start and Can obviously didn't help, but we gotta remember, we still outplayed them and should have won.

We didn't create enough but we had a perfectly good goal disallowed (f***ing amateurish refereeing, that pillock should be sent back to Leage 2 to learn his trade again) and we missed 2 very good chances. Moreno's goal would have changed the flow of the game. Whilst we were poor, losing 2-0 is massively flattering Newcastle.

There is one important thing to take away from that defeat though, we still haven't learned how to break down teams who park the bus or go on the heavy defensive. We beat Swansea 1-0 but only just, the warnign signs were there. BR never managed to solve this issue, but in a way I'm glad it came so early on in the season and highlighted to Klopp his next priority. He is beginning to deal with defensive issue, and improving our attacking play. This was the last of the three major flaws we had from last year imo and I trust Klopp to come up with an answer.

I won't lose confidence or faith in the manager, the result wasn't indicative of the game, but it does highlight a major issue for us if we are to go from 5th/6th place finishing to top four regulars. Learn from it and move on I'd say.

Terrible result, absolutely gutted, but can't help feel there is some overreaction. Missing players like Couts, Studge from start and Can obviously didn't help, but we gotta remember, we still outplayed them and should have won.

We didn't create enough but we had a perfectly good goal disallowed (f***ing amateurish refereeing, that pillock should be sent back to Leage 2 to learn his trade again) and we missed 2 very good chances. Moreno's goal would have changed the flow of the game. Whilst we were poor, losing 2-0 is massively flattering Newcastle.

There is one important thing to take away from that defeat though, we still haven't learned how to break down teams who park the bus or go on the heavy defensive. We beat Swansea 1-0 but only just, the warnign signs were there. BR never managed to solve this issue, but in a way I'm glad it came so early on in the season and highlighted to Klopp his next priority. He is beginning to deal with defensive issue, and improving our attacking play. This was the last of the three major flaws we had from last year imo and I trust Klopp to come up with an answer.

I won't lose confidence or faith in the manager, the result wasn't indicative of the game, but it does highlight a major issue for us if we are to go from 5th/6th place finishing to top four regulars. Learn from it and move on I'd say.

Have to admit mate, I agree with Klopp. I'd say Newcastle deserved their points. They did exactly what we have done in recent weeks bar the quality, they worked and fought for everything and looked more hungry than us IMO. For effort alone, they were worthy winners because both teams really lacked quality out there yesterday and they were rewarded for winning the battles mostly all over the pitch.

Had Sturridge have started, even with the same underperformance from his team mates, I reckon we could have taken all the points. The movement and the instinct in him to look for goals would have made a world of difference.

Have to admit mate, I agree with Klopp. I'd say Newcastle deserved their points. They did exactly what we have done in recent weeks bar the quality, they worked and fought for everything and looked more hungry than us IMO. For effort alone, they were worthy winners because both teams really lacked quality out there yesterday and they were rewarded for winning the battles mostly all over the pitch.

Had Sturridge have started, even with the same underperformance from his team mates, I reckon we could have taken all the points. The movement and the instinct in him to look for goals would have made a world of difference.

Granted Newcastle were well up for the fight and can't take anything away from their efforts. Didn't think they played well though, just fighting spirit, which is fair enough. It was almost identical to that game against Chelsea when Gerrard slipped. We dominated posession without creating chances, one defensive error and bang, they're ahead. Couldn't come back out of it.

Like some have said, When Can, Couts and Hendo are restored, we'll have far more fluidity in the team, so not that worried about the lethargic performance - it's understandable even given the efforts of past few weeks. But not being able to create openings against defences sitting deep...that worries me more.

I hated the midfield\front line when I saw it, before that I thought with Lallana, Hendo, Sturridge, Firmino we would have walked it. Like every other side in the division we are not the same team - Can was a big miss as well wasn't he?

Allen, Milner, Lucas, Benteke, Ibe, Firmino - were all piss poor, man of the match had to be Lovren for me.

If Hendo and Can were in that midfield, we'd have had it wrapped up by half time

Klopp knows his best 11

No panic

Can,Hendo, Sturridge and Couthino that is going to be some team

A blip that is all, the league is this way this season.

Terrible game, terrible result. Our defense was solid as a whole, and a very unfortunate own goal for Skrtel. Over the season/years, those are the kind of blocks he's importantly made, breaking up the play. This one just happened to find our net. Lovren was great today, so many key blocks and clearances. Happy to see him be the kind of player I thought he was. Clyne, an absolute workhorse for our defense, unfortunately is very limited going forward. We rarely get any real quality progress offensively when he touches the ball. Just the opposite with Moreno, thought he was a threat going forward but slightly suspect defensively. Lucas had an off but not awful game, Milner worked his socks off but provided us nothing going forward, and I though Joe Allen put in another good game. Then there was our front three: Ibe can run at people, with no end product to it. Firmino has not played well in the 10 role for me (as opposed to when he has been up front), and we just don't play well when Benteke starts games for us. Every game he has started under Klopp, we've looked flat, boring and unimaginative. He's a square peg to our round hole team. Origi showed more in 15 minutes than Beneteke did in 60, and Studge looked rusty and also looked like he didn't want to be bothered today. It showed me today how important Lallana is to this team, how much Can provides us on both sides of the ball, and how Couts is easily our best player.

Still shell shocked from our performance (or non-performance) yesterday. Attack and midfield just didn't perform as we expected. No energy or pressing and little movement or effort by Benteke.

I honestly didn't expect we would miss Can or Lallana yet we missed both, but most of my ire and anger has been directed at Benteke, which might be me looking for a scapegoat but imo he deserves it .

Just never expected such an insipid performance after the way we have been playing, but it is quite worrying that when teams sit back and hit us on the break we don't seem to have any answers.

Looks like there are no shortcuts back to the top and we will have to fight much harder than this if we are to challenge.

F***ing crushed at the moment. 

   

one of the problems for Rodgers was that if we didn't get an early goal frustration would set in especially at Home. Today feels a bit like we lost a cup final yesterday and it is a timely reminder we need more quality in our squad.

Its the unwritten rule that you play your best 11 available. We didn't.

Hendo, Lallana and Sturridge all should have started despite a lack of match practice for two of them. The game on Thursday was the time to rest players considering we are already through to the knockout rounds.

Yesterdays game showed that if the front 3 don't press in a coordinated and methodical manner our midfield will get overrun, regardless of who's in it.  Firmino does press, Benteke doesn't and Ibe is somewhere in the middle so it's no surprise that Jürgen changed all of them, maybe not early enough but nevertheless he recognised that it wasn't helping our midfield, or our game plan.

A defeat now, after such great recent results, will do us the world of good, it's tempered our rising expectations in that there is still plenty of work to do and there will be shock results along the way.

Its the unwritten rule that you play your best 11 available. We didn't.

Hendo, Lallana and Sturridge all should have started despite a lack of match practice for two of them. The game on Thursday was the time to rest players considering we are already through to the knockout rounds.

So, are you blaming Klopp?